Keffe D's Tupac Murder Conviction: What He Did Leaving Court

**Tony Brueski** (0:01)
This is Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski.

**Tony Brueski** (0:11)
Talk about an efficient investigation. I mean, does it get much more efficient than this? Almost 30 years to the day of the shooting and the death of Tupac Shakur, someone's finally been convicted. Only took 30 years and him going on podcasts, talk shows, writing books, saying it to anyone who would listen. For the person who is allegedly responsible, who is responsible, convicted now of being responsible for handing the gun to Orlando Anderson and saying, do your thing.
Only took 30 years. Wow. We're gonna go to the verdict here. What happened in that courtroom as this moment, 30 years in the making has finally come about. And where does it leave us? Where does it leave us at the end of the day?
Is this justice, as everybody wants to go for? Justice for this, justice for that. Is this justice for Tupac Shakur? On one side of the Las Vegas courtroom on August 31st of 2026, remember it was 1996 when all of this story started. If you were just joining us, I was about 15
It's like we have set Shakur, cried quietly and reached for the person behind her.
Tupac's sister. On the other side, Duane Keffe D Davis raised his fist towards the gallery as he was led away. Between them, a verdict. Guilty. First degree murder with use of a deadly weapon and the killing of Tupac Shakur. Took the jury only about three hours. The defense's closing argument had lasted almost two. The jury was faster than the lawyer, but almost was not a great defense. Our client's a liar. That's pretty much all we got. He admitted all, yeah, he's full of shit, though. I mean, you want to believe he's full of shit?

**Tony Brueski** (2:48)
You want to believe he's not?

**Tony Brueski** (2:50)
Yeah.
Davis is 63 years old. He's the only person ever charged in Tupac's murder. He's now the only person ever convicted. Sentencing is set for October 13th. His son was in the courtroom when the verdict was read and covered his face with one hand. He told the judge he plans to appeal. He also asked for his phone and laptop back. Davis has been held without bail since his arrest in September of 2023, nearly three years in the Clark County Detention Center, waiting for a trial that lasted nine days and a verdict that took three hours. Most murder convictions are built on on physical evidence, a weapon, DNA surveillance footage, a phone record that put someone in the wrong place. This had none of that, mainly because at the time of the crime, none of that really existed as a possibility. The idea in 1996 of let's go to the phone record, let's see where it's been tracking you at was like, what? You're going to do what? What are you talking about? Huh?
Your phone is going to track you? What are you? What are you nuts?

**Tony Brueski** (3:54)
The phone? Huh?

**Tony Brueski** (3:58)
Wasn't a thing.
DNA technology.
Also, not extremely new at the time, but a hell of a lot more behind where we are today.
Go watch an Unsolved Mysteries episode from 1996 or Forensic Files and see how futuristic they're talking about the technology. It'll take you back.
The 40 caliber Glock allegedly used in the shooting has never been recovered. The white Cadillac? The car prosecutors say Davis was riding it has also never been found. Can you imagine if you're in possession of either of those things today?
And I'm sure they were probably disposed of at the time. But what kind of cash that? Those objects might pull in for someone wanting to put them in a museum? No phone records place. Davis in LasVegas on September 7th, 1996 No receipts, no surveillance footage. Investigators found a hotel bill at Davis' home during a police search, but it was undated and nobody can account for where that evidence is actually now. Shug Knight, the man who was driving the BMW when the shots came through, the only surviving eyewitness to the shooting, refused to cooperate with either side throughout the case. Shug Knight has been in a California prison since 2018 on an unrelated voluntary manslaughter conviction. He would not talk to prosecutors and would not talk to the defense either. After the verdict, prosecutors dropped the gang enhancement from the charge. Chief Deputy DA. Bnu Pallal told the court it was due to witness logistics. A former officer who would have testified for about 10 to 15 minutes had logistical issues that prevented it from happening.
I think you're lucky stars, Keffe.
Although it doesn't really change a lot. The conviction stands as first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon. What the jury did have was Keffe D's own voice. And at the end of the day, turns out your own voice and your own words are one of the most damning things you can have against you in court. Four recorded statements spanning 18 years of memoir and video of Davis promoting that memoir as the real truth. The real truth. Everybody right here, come see it. The prosecution's entire case was built from one man's words aimed right back at him. Everything else was context. The first statement was a 2008 federal proffer interview. A proffer. It works like this. A defendant facing serious charges sits down with law enforcement and tells them what he knows about other crimes and other people. In exchange, the government agrees not to use those specific words against defendants in its own case. Wink, wink. Most attorneys will be like, don't do that. Don't do that. There's a lot of loopholes in proffer agreements. Sometimes they're not even on paper.